Don T Fear Artificial Intelligence Summary

Artificial intelligence research remains a captivating topic for societies to explore. However, in no small part due to the ethical concerns the movement reaves cultivates, AI research maintains relevance to the field of computer science. Particularly, the prospect of humanity coexisting synthetic autonomous intelligences can cause people to reject AI development, as Elon Musk has. Elon denounces the movement, equating it to “summoning the demon” (McFarland, 2014). In “Don’t Fear Artificial Intelligence,” Adam Elkus attempts to counter Elon’s comments and explain the (ostensible) irrationality behind fearing AI advancement. Adam presents his position with a commanding voice and clear organization. However, his argument suffers both from an

Adopting a commanding tone, the article maintains appropriately direct language, providing readers with the feeling that Adam possesses a strong conviction for his beliefs. For example, the article starts by calling Elon Musk “wrong,” instead of simply providing a counterargument. Adam also ensures that, amongst the technical argumentation, there are references to popular culture to “ground” the article for readers and provide audiences with a point of reference. For example, there are several references to “Skynet” (an artificial intelligence program) from the Terminator series present throughout the article. Additionally, Adam contributes to the confident tone present within the article through numerous citations. These citations further command a sense of credibility, as the presence of such numerous references can lead readers to believe that they are reading a piece with a large scientific

The references themselves are often long and do not reveal relevant information in an appropriate amount of time. For example, when the article equates iPhones and iPads to the “’undiscovered country’” (Elkus, 2014), the relevant citation leads to the Wikipedia page for Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country. For some readers, the amount of external material necessary for a complete understanding of all of Adam’s arguments can prove too much to manage at once.
Unfortunately, the arguments present within the article are problematic as well. At no point does Adam actually elucidate on the flaws present within Elon’s argument. Instead, where Elon presents statements against the thought of sentient AI, Adam argues for the negative sociological impact of fearing AI. Elon presents AI as an “existential” [Source] threat, steeping the concern against AI as a problem of ethical philosophy. Resultantly, Adam constructs a fallacious straw man argument; by attacking a subtly different argument to what Elon states, Adam attempts to prove his